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Netflix's got big plans for indie filmmakers

This Wired article spotlights Netflix's work with indie filmmakers. Of special interest: 1) Netflix buying 500 DVDs of an undistributed indie film from its maker & the film getting on HBO possibly because of Netflix customer interest, 2) future possibility of Netflix taking a look at all 3,000 or so Sundance film festival submissions BEFORE the fest selects or rejects films. Read the article here . Thanks Anthony Kaufman for the link.

3 images from the opening 5 mins of Date Number One

subodh samudre as Ananda, the bookstore worker * rashard harrison as Watalappan, a bookstore customer [i am playing around with the screen capture function on this lap top that i am using right now, these images are from the opening 5 mins of Date Number One . enjoy.] & john stabb schroeder as Mark H. Temonium, the ninja! more pics coming soon * * Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

Possible alternatives: Fan financed indie film via DVD pre-sales, Distribution through YouTube + blog exposure + DIY screenings + DVD sales ?

Two things gave me idea #1: 1. I needed a couple of hundred dollars last summer to pay for an editing related expense for Date Number One , did not want to wait 'till I got my dayjob pay, so I asked a friend who likes my movies if he wanted to loan me the money. He said he will just pre-buy 10 DVDs of Date Number One instead of doing a loan, w/ units to be delivered to him whenever they are available for sale. It was a simple solution, so I went ahead with that transaction: 10 DVDs were sold in advance, I had most of the $s I needed to solve the editing problem. 2. I will go see (or buy or rent on DVD) works by certain filmmakers regardless of what reviewers & other audience members say about the works - stuff by Jim Jarmusch, Amir Motlagh, Hal Hartley, Jon Moritsugu, etc. Filmmakers with such a hard core fan base maybe able to pay for the production & start of distro (at least making a few thousand DVDs) cost of certain ultra-low budget films of theirs by pre-selling the D

YouTube trailers page & Blogger blog coming soon for US DIY Film yahoo group members

Working on it now, read the update to members below: The plan is to post video clips on YouTube and promote, discuss them at a blog. Test blog & YouTube page for attempting to offer trailers & clips from works by members of the US DIY Film yahoo group have been created. Both web pages will be fine tuned & tested out in the next few days. Before this weekend is over I should be able to post info. on how the US DIY Film yahoo group members can start using both the blog & the corresponding YouTube page. In the meantime, here are the links to both for you to bookmark: The blog: http://usdiyfilm.blogspot.com/ The YouTube page: http://youtube.com/profile?user=USDIYFilmChannel1 To participate in all this, if you are a DIY filmmaker interested in self-distribution, join the US DIY Film yahoo group . Thanks! - Sujewa

New Variety.com article on GreenCine

At least this looks new to me, posted on 9/10/06, article by Matthew Ross re: everyone's favorite blog & its parent comany GreenCine. Check it out (you'll need to register to read beyond the first couple of lines). - Sujewa

"cartoon" version of pic from inside Pioneer Theater, NYC, 8/31 - Date Number One premiere

one of my photo editing software packages can create a "cartoon" version of photos. reminds me a little of images from Waking Life. this pic is of me & pioneer programmer ray in front of some audience members doing post-show q&a on 8/31, following the Date Number One NYC premiere at the Pioneer Theater. original photo by Brian Geldin (!thanks brian!) photo/image copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films

Date Number One '07 Theatrical Plan: 12 US cities, 1 week each, Jan - June

The first part of the year, actually pretty deep into late summer/early fall, there aren't too many great Hollywood movies out, & the indiewood movies that are out are targeted mostly to an older demographic than my peers, so, next year, my plan is to show Date Number One for 1 week each in 12 US cities, one after the other (well, w/ a 1 week break in between the start of each engagement), w/in the first 6 months of the year: January to end of June 2007. Hopefully those theatrical engagements will not have to be four-walled runs, but rather Head Trauma '06 esque collaborations between myself & the theaters. Additional expenses: any paid marketing, travel, etc. can be covered by one of my investors & any savings from '06 & maybe '07 dayjob work, provided those expenses are relatively low. Plus $s from DVD sales this year may assist w/ '07 theatrical related expenses. And I am going to try to get paid speaking engagements/work shops, Lance Weiler '

Rick Stevenson joins the '06 Self-Distribution club

The big new story in indie film this year is self-distribution. The story got started way back in early '06 with Four Eyed Monsters distro news. Then it continued with stories on Kicking Bird, Head Trauma, Date Number One (that's my movie! :), Mutual Appreciation, Jumping Off Bridges, etc. As regular readers of this blog know, I am all about celebrating self-distribution, so if you missed any of the original entries re: self-distro of mentioned films, go back & look: it's archives time baby! The latest filmmaker to get major blog press re: self-distribution this year is Rick Stevenson from Seattle. His film Expiration Date sounds very interesting (bonus points for the minority - Native American - lead, go Rick !), looking forward to checking it out. Here is the GreenCine interview with Stevenson. - Sujewa special thanks goes out to Jerry "Hollywood Is Talking" Brewington for pointing out the GreenCine interview. thanks JB!

BUMS from Canada

The brothers Jason & Brett Butler from Canada mailed me a DVD of their movie BUMS last week. It is going on my now 2 titles deep list of movies to watch (I rented BRICK about a week ago, still have not gotten to it), so I expect to see it at some point this month. Even though I am officially out of the film review game, I will occasionally check out & write about other people's movies, as time permits. Either way, here is a description of BUMS, from the DVD's cover: " A day in the life comedy, BUMS follows the lives of six friends as their relationships blur together to produce love, laugh, lethargy and a loose canon. BUMS is an insightful and provocative look at life neither here nor there on a day like any other day - when you don't have a clue what you're doing but all the time in the world to do it." Sounds interesting. Here is the web site , explore more. - Sujewa

3 down, 9997 to go

How do you sell 10,000 DVDs of your no-budget, no star but superdelicious feature? Well, if you are a no-budget, DIY process addicted self-distributor like myself, then you do it 1 DVD at a time. The retail DVDs of Date Number One are not ready yet, but I am working on them. Should have them ready for sale by the end of this month. And just because the DVD is being sold does not mean that screenings are over. Not in the post-Funny Ha Ha/Mutual Appreciation age where an indie film can do cable or DVD & then still keep playing theaters. More screenings than ever will be happening in '06 & '07 for DNO, while I am selling the DVDs. Crooked Beat , a local DC record & CD & DVD store ordered 3 DVDs of Date Number One today. When those sell, they'll ask for more. My first major sales goal for DNO DVDs is 10,000 units. A goal that is to be accomplished when possible. Hopefully w/in 2 years. So 3 DVDs placed with a retailer, and just only 9997 to go :) :) :) Retail st

New Yahoo Group for DIY Filmmakers/Self-Distributors

I just created a Yahoo Group for DIY filmmakers/self-distributors . Hopefully it will quickly evolve into a place where DIY filmmaker/distributors can ask each other questions, get answers re: distribution & production matters - w/ out having to post Qs at the Comments section at various blogs/entries & waiting around 'till they get answered, which is how it is happening now. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, here is the link (go join!): http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/usdiyfilm/ And here is the official introduction to the group: " This group is an attempt to create a forum of communication for US based self-distributing low budget filmmakers or independent/D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) filmmakers. Group started & moderated by Sujewa Ekanayake, director & distributor of the 2006 comedy feature Date Number One ( http://www.wilddiner.com/ ). Hopefully this group will offer a place for filmmakers to quickly figure out answers to production & distrib

Independent film gets more independent than ever in 2006 with the arrival of 7 new features in theaters

What were the films that defined independent film back in the 1980s & 1990s? What were they like? How were they made? Most of them were character studies. They were mostly dialogue driven. They were made for budgets that were ultra-low by Hollywood standards: from around $20,000 to around $150,000. They did not feature any Hollywood stars or television personalities. These original indie films that I speak of are: Stranger Than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch, She's Gotta Have It by Spike Lee, The Unbelievable Truth by Hal Hartley in the 1980s, and Slacker by Richard Linklater, Clerks by Kevin Smith in the early 1990s. Each of those films introduced a new American filmmaking sensibility, plus unknown directors and unknown actors to the world. Between 1984s Stranger Than Paradise and 1994s Pulp Fiction, independent film went Hollywood, and thus Indiewood was born. Indiewood came quickly into maturity in the 1990s assisted to a large degree by the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Film

IFC.com profiles Mutual Appreciation, Date Number One, Head Trauma & self-distribution of those projects

Very exciting to be featured in a story on self-distribution at the IFC website. The story is an IFC News item titled " The Final Frontier of Filmmaking: Three Stories of Self-Distribution " written by Alison Wilmore. Here is a paragraph from the article: "These days, a crowded market and the sheer difficulty of making money on a theatrical release has made distributors wary of taking any chances, and often when an offer is made, it's not at all favorable towards the filmmaker. Suddenly self-distribution, once an unthinkable rarity, seems like a viable option for filmmakers who are willing to do the work to get their films on screens. September may be the month self-distribution comes into its own. The three filmmakers profiled below are all in the midst of releasing their own films, and they're not the only ones." The filmmakers & projects profiled are: Andrew Bujalski & Mutual Appreciation, myself (Sujewa Ekanayake) & Date Number One, and Lanc

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip